Local church shows what service is about

The Rocky Mountain Christian Church had a busy October, particularly one busy day.

Over 700 volunteers from both the Niwot and Frederick campuses showed up for an amazing feat of service to area communities.

They served breakfast to the public at Indian Peaks Elementary School, built a community garden, packed 100,000 meals to send to hurricane victims in the Houston area, did service projects at the Longmont Children’s Home and did several clean-up projects in Longmont and Frederick.

All of this just in one day. The following Sunday, they began a four-week food drive for the OUR Center in Carbon Valley that finished just before Thanksgiving. The two churches delivered a total of 15,200 pounds of nonperishable items to the center.

Dave Choutka, pastor of the Niwot campus, said that it was a great effort.

“Our mission as a church is to know Jesus and to love like Him,” Choutka said. “So we want to be known more for what we’re for than for what we’re against.

“Jesus was all about loving and serving people, so we’re really trying to rally around what He was about, serving and loving our community and neighbors.

“I think people are getting excited about being a part of that. It gives people practical opportunities to (serve).”

Choutka came to Rocky Mountain Christian just over a year ago with his wife Dawn (who is the interim elementary director at the church) and their three children. Choutka went to college with Rocky Mountain’s lead pastor Shan Moyers, who invited him out for an interview.

“The interview was the first time I had been to Colorado,” Choutka said. “They didn’t have to do a whole lot of selling. It’s amazing out here, we love it. We’re excited about serving and loving our community. We really try to engage, serve and bless the community in different ways.”

Rocky Mountain has a congregation of roughly 2,400 split about evenly between the two campuses. Choutka’s former church in Indiana had grown from 1,800 to over 9,000 members in his 11 years there, and he said that seeing the involvement in Colorado shows what God can do.

“It takes vision and organization, it doesn’t just happen,” Choutka said. “Packing 100,000 meals or building a garden — there has to be a plan — coordinating with everyone takes a lot of work.

“When all of that comes together, God blesses it. But it doesn’t just happen without some hard work behind it. The Bible says without vision, people perish, so you have to have a vision and then lead people within that.

“People want to be a part of purpose, they want to be a part of mission, they want to make a difference. Really, that’s what the church should be about, we should be about the Light and serving and helping our brothers and sisters.”

He said that his time in Indiana showed him the things a church can do for its community.

“I got to see and experience some amazing things,” Choutka said. “We were really blessed to have that opportunity. I feel grateful that God has led us to Colorado and to be a part of what He’s doing here at Rocky Mountain Christian Church and to be a part of the Niwot community.”

He said that the idea of communities working together inspired another idea. The two campuses started a Dollar Club, and asked all members to just give one dollar.

“You think a dollar can’t amount to much,” Choutka said. “But with all of us collectively, that dollar amounts to quite a bit.”

Between the two, they raised over $3,000 in one day. Both pastors went to local grocery stores and gas stations and began paying for people’s purchases. Choutka found out that a worker at a local restaurant he frequents was in need of financial assistance for medical expenses and took care of it on behalf of the Dollar Club.

“It was amazing,” Choutka said. “This is what it’s about. Together we can make a difference to other people and our community. We recorded these and showed that video a few weeks ago to the congregations. It was an awesome moment.”

Coming up, the church will have the Holiday blessing, when members can donate money to families in need through the envelopes during services.

There will be the Christmas offering partnership with Colorado Friendship and other local charities. They plan to sponsor a school for an entire year to pay for the weekend food program for children who don’t have much to eat at home.

“I think you take your learning experiences with you wherever you go,” Choutka said. “To be able to link arms with Shan (Moyers) and the team here that is excited and passionate about helping others know Jesus and to love like Him. I think it just syncs perfectly with what we’re trying to be about.”

Services at Rocky Mountain Christian Church are at 9:15 and 10:45 a.m. on Sundays. Christmas Eve services are Friday, Dec. 22 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 24 at 9:15 and 10:45 a.m., along with 12:15 p.m. The church can be found on Facebook and Instagram, along with their website, www.rocky.church.